:00:00. > :00:23.Good evening and welcome. Victims of this winter's flooding say they've
:00:24. > :00:28.been "let`down" by the Environment Agency. Some residents in Wraysbury
:00:29. > :00:32.say an official document, written 20 years ago and seen by BBC London,
:00:33. > :00:34.supports their claims that dredging the Thames would have reduced
:00:35. > :00:37.flooding. But the Environment Agency argues it's better to invest money
:00:38. > :00:47.in new flood prevention schemes. Gareth Furby reports. Were on the
:00:48. > :00:53.River Thames near Chertsey, looking for new sandbags. It doesn't take
:00:54. > :00:58.long to find one. Were coming up to the first one, its beach now. The
:00:59. > :01:05.man at the wheel is Johnny, he's worked on the river all his life.
:01:06. > :01:10.Were looking at a shoal that appeared in the last floods. It's
:01:11. > :01:15.never as bad as this. In another location in the middle of the
:01:16. > :01:19.river, we almost run aground. It's going fast now. I'm halfway up the
:01:20. > :01:27.stick, which is about there. If you hold that against me, it under the
:01:28. > :01:30.meter. The reason he's showing us this is because he doesn't believe
:01:31. > :01:41.the Environment Agency's claim that the Thames itself. We're learning
:01:42. > :01:45.you don't believe everything you hear from the Environment Agency.
:01:46. > :01:51.Bob is a former official who worked on the Thames dredgers since sold
:01:52. > :01:56.off, and he's kept a document. 11th of January 1993, it's the Thames
:01:57. > :01:59.stretching strategic review. It lists how much the river's discharge
:02:00. > :02:10.could increase if it was dredged by half a metre. Teddington, 20%,
:02:11. > :02:13.Chertsey, 14%, old Windsor, 10%. They are telling us that dredging
:02:14. > :02:19.the main river will increase the rate of flow. We showed this
:02:20. > :03:28.Would it have been more than that? Wraysbury. They are not happy.
:03:29. > :03:34.Would it have been more than that? You cannot dredge beyond the depth
:03:35. > :03:38.of that. Were dredging does bring benefits, but where it does bring
:03:39. > :03:45.benefits and flood prevention, then I firmly believe it should be for
:03:46. > :03:47.local people to take that decision. The Environment Agency insists major
:03:48. > :04:01.flood prevention schemes are better value. Some flood victims still
:04:02. > :04:05.disagree. A coroner has said she will raise concerns about the design
:04:06. > :04:08.of a swimming pool at a hotel in Essex where a couple drowned last
:04:09. > :04:11.year. Komba Kpakiwa and Josephine Foday were discovered in the pool at
:04:12. > :04:14.the Down Hall Country House Hotel in Hatfield Heath last April. An
:04:15. > :04:18.inquest jury ruled that they died as a result of an accident. But the
:04:19. > :04:24.family of one of the victims said the deaths could have been avoided
:04:25. > :04:27.if a lifeguard had been present. A row has broken out over plans to
:04:28. > :04:30.build a cancer care centre at Barts Hospital because campaigners claim
:04:31. > :04:33.the new centre's modern design isn't in`keeping with the historic Great
:04:34. > :04:36.Hall, which dates back to 1738. But the charity behind it say thousands
:04:37. > :04:43.of cancer patients in the capital will benefit. Karl Mercer has the
:04:44. > :04:50.story. There's a reason they call it the great Hall. Close to 300 years
:04:51. > :04:54.it's been at the heart of Barts. Its Georgian walls decorated with the
:04:55. > :04:58.names of those who donated to the hospital. It makes an unlikely
:04:59. > :05:01.battle ground, these unlikely campaigners who want to redevelop
:05:02. > :05:05.the hall and keep to its Georgian heritage. The hospital, though, and
:05:06. > :05:11.a cancer charity wants something more modern. It's a battle being
:05:12. > :05:14.played out in rival videos. For nearly three centuries, this
:05:15. > :05:21.magnificent room has stood here virtually unchanged in the heart of
:05:22. > :05:26.the city of. We have the oldest hospital, to really respect the
:05:27. > :05:29.authenticity of historic architecture you must make an
:05:30. > :05:35.authentically new piece. This is what the controversy is about, a
:05:36. > :05:39.plan by a charity for a new building attached to the great Hall. Millar
:05:40. > :05:42.the centre undoubtedly does good, but there are other places it could
:05:43. > :05:49.be better suited to be built, without destroying the opportunity
:05:50. > :05:56.to really keep this building living under live for centuries to come.
:05:57. > :06:00.But this is the sort of help the centre wants to offer at Barts. This
:06:01. > :06:04.is their only other London new route `` unit at Charing Cross. They could
:06:05. > :06:10.do it without harm to the great Hall, they say. We've worked hard
:06:11. > :06:14.with organisations to make sure the great Hall is safe and secure.
:06:15. > :06:18.Maggie's has been working with all of the groups and it doesn't
:06:19. > :06:21.jeopardise the future of the Great Wall now or whatever might happen to
:06:22. > :06:29.it in the future. The decision will be made by the hospital, probably
:06:30. > :06:30.later this year. It says it wants to protect the Great Hall and see the
:06:31. > :06:48.Maggie's centre built. A glorious day. Heathrow was 22
:06:49. > :06:54.degrees. Many areas seeing top teams. Tomorrow, look at this, the
:06:55. > :06:57.next few days, with confidence, sunny spells and a fair amount of
:06:58. > :07:00.warmth as well. If you were with me last night, you will remember
:07:01. > :07:04.perhaps I was worried about the temperatures struggling away in the
:07:05. > :07:08.countryside. I don't think it will be a problem tonight. Not too much
:07:09. > :07:12.in the way of cloud to start off the new day on Friday. Rather like
:07:13. > :07:20.today, we may just find a bit of Fairweather cumulus bubbling up, but
:07:21. > :07:22.that won't stop the temperature is probably exceeding the sort of
:07:23. > :07:29.values we saw today. Just a little bit of a breeze perhaps out East.
:07:30. > :07:31.I'll leave you with a cheery prospect for the weekend, which
:07:32. > :07:34.shows we keep it prospect for the weekend, which
:07:35. > :07:36.shows we keep it fine, dry and warm. And we can leave you with the
:07:37. > :07:44.national picture. More warm weather on the way, today
:07:45. > :07:48.almost felt like June across the country. Temperatures did hover
:07:49. > :07:56.around 22 degrees, the average for June.
:07:57. > :08:01.If you've been following our forecast for the last couple of
:08:02. > :08:04.days, it will come as no surprise to you that more warm sunshine is on
:08:05. > :08:10.the way for tomorrow and the next few days. Tonight and into the early
:08:11. > :08:14.hours of Friday, not much happening on the weather front, just like Nast
:08:15. > :08:15.dashed back last night and the night